Metoprolol and pregnancy

Common Questions and Answers about Metoprolol and pregnancy

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Metoprolol is in the FDA pregnancy category C. This means that it is not known whether metoprolol will be harmful to an unborn baby. Do not take this medication without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant or could become pregnant during treatment
ok so my question is this.... has anyone ever been on this from the beginning of a pregnancy and had a healthy baby? has anyone had miscarriages and was on this drug? im desperate and cant lose another pregnancy.....

My first pregnancy I was on Aldomet for hypertension and did just fine. Now my MD would like to try Metoprolol 25mg bid for this pregnancy, when it happens. I cannot take the ACE inhibitor I usually take and I am now on the Lopressor. Does anyone know of a woman that has taken Metoprolol and what are the risk factors w/ pregnancy? Is it really approved to take during pregnancy? Do you know if miscarriage rate is greater w/ this drug?

I have been contemplating pregnancy for a while now and wanted to try to wean myself off of the metoprolol so my cardiologist just said that the dose was so small I could just stop taking it. I also have very bad panic disorder. I didn't take it fot the past 3 days and I felt really tired and my heart would race when I would get up just to walk across the room. I woke up today and because I had to come to work I went ahead and took it this morning.

However, it prevented me from having any more episodes of afib which I had as a result of pregnancy. I took it for about six months, and have been off of it now for six months. In answer to your questions:
a) My cardiologist told me that the dose I was taking was "like peeing in the ocean".
b) Did nothing to help my pacs.
c) My doc told me that it was such a low dose that I didn't even have to bother weaning off of it. Could taking it make your condition worse?

( she takes it for nuerological issues) Anyway, she gave birth to a healthy baby girl last Oct while maintaining a does of 25mg/day during her entire pregnancy! She lives in Boston, after research and then spoking with a perinatologist over the phone she choose to continue the drug and not switching. Just thought might help ease your mind!! Good luck at your appt and let me know what happens!

Talk with your OB/GYN about TTC while on this medication. Metoprolol is a Category C drug while used in the first trimester...if it is used during the 2nd and 3rd trimester it is a Category D. Im not trying to scare you but there are more BP meds out there that you could use.

I was taking metoprolol 25 mg twice a day and then my dr discontinued it because I found out that I was pregnant. Now I am taking something else for the blood pressure that is safe to take in pregnancy. It just *****, because suddenly they came out of nowhere and I am trying to find a reason for them..they are literally driving me insane- it's all I think about..I don't know if they are going to kill me or not. Tomorrow I go to the cardiologist and they'll do an echo...

To directly answer your question- there are no controlled human studies to tell you the effect/ adverse effect of metoprolol in pregnancy.
Although metoprolol readily crosses the placenta, there are no signs of beta blockade (low heart rate, blood pressure) reported in the fetus.
I recommend that you discuss the plans of conception with your doctor, so that he can closely monitor your condition.

I have been contemplating pregnancy for a while now and wanted to try to wean myself off of the metoprolol so my cardiologist just said that the dose was so small I could just stop taking it. I also have very bad panic disorder. I didn't take it fot the past 3 days and I felt really tired and my heart would race when I would get up just to walk across the room. I woke up today and because I had to come to work I went ahead and took it this morning.

Septal thickness of 22mm.
I am taking Metoprolol - 25mg at 0800, 25mg at 1800 and 50mg at 2300 to control my rates and arrythymias. I wore a Holter monitor last week that showed 9 episodes of SVT and 2 of Vtach.
I am due for cardiac ablation one month after my scheduled c-section. My BP with the Metoprolol is around 105/50 during the day and unknown while sleeping.
I have the following concerns I was hoping could be addressed.
1. What are the odds I can carry to full term?

The EKG indicated a left side bundle branch block and a small amount of fluid was found around my heart was found during the ekko. I was 27wks pregnant at that time. Since then I have been on metoprololand am now 35wks. I have continued to have episodes of tachycardia(sometime hr>200) and SOB. I was wondering if there were any risk factors during labor and delivery and if one should have a c-section to reduce strain on the heart. Also, my babies tend to be large. My 1st was 10.

I'd like to taper off (under my OB's supervision). If I go off the Atenolol and have another episode (and take Metoprolol to stop it), is that worse for the fetus than taking Atenolol daily? What is the risk to the fetus of another SVT episode?
2) My blood pressure is normally on the low side (around 101/63 average). Is this at all relevant, either to the importance/harm of taking the beta blocker or to the likelihood of having another SVT episode?

my resting heartrate used to always be about 110-125, but the bb's brought it down into about 80-90.
other options considered safe during pregnancy are metoprololand propranolol. propranolol is preferred because it has the highest reported cases of usage during pregnancy without complication. so I would ask to switch to that NOW...let your doctor know that you are trying to conceive.
good luck in January! I hope you will keep coming back and update us with your progress!

Hi
I have a 7 month old daughter and very early in my pregnancy I was diagnosed with an 'unusual' atrial tachycardia. As I was in some form of tachycardia most of the time, I took metoprolol from 12 weeks - I was to stop the day before delivery (induction) but my hr skyrocketed so much during labour that I needed to take it. Bub was on the smaller side and took 2 minutes to respirate - her bgl's were tested for a couple of days but all turned out ok and bub is healthy.

I guess I would just like to hear how other women have been during pregnancy. The doctor also gave me atenolol 25 mg and told me to take it as needed and not everyday but only when the symptoms are bad. And he said if I needed it during pregnancy I should take it. Any thoughts on this???
My palps have actually decreased lately but the fast heart beat comes and goes. I hope someone can give me their experiences.
Thanks.

Im wondering if any of you ladies have been in my situation and stayed on the metoprolol throughtout your pregnancyand how did things turn out?? Typically I live a very normal life when I'm on my medication, if I don't have it...I'm bedridden. my heart rate will be 200 and I will not be able to stand after just stopping the medication for one day. Please weigh in and let me know if you have any experience with this. Thank you!! Also, has anyone tried Labetelol? They want to switch me to that..

When beta blockers have been used in pregnancy, metoprololand propranolol have been used more often than atenolol. These beta blockers have been used successfully during pregnancy, though your child should be monitored closely around the time of delivery. The beta blockers can have adverse affects on the fetus in terms of development in some animal studies. Pindolol and acebutalol are considered by the FDA to be even safer, but this is all on the basis of animal studies.

I have just finished my 1st trimester of pregnancyand have had 3 episodes of fainting and convulsing. I'm deathly afraid of continuing my pregnancy and dread what delivery will bring. My episodes in pregnancy seem random to me. I was very encouraged by the fact that there are others of you with this condition, thought I was alone. I would love to hear any other ideas as to try to prepare myself for what is ahead and maybe get to enjoy this a little.

I can't seem to find any information about PSVT and a pregnancy with twins. We've been trying to have a baby for about 5 years now and for the first time in a very long time I have real hope that this may happen. But I'd like to know if there's any increased risk of PSVT complications with twins. My OBGYN wasn't sure when I asked him, but he's also looking into it for me.
Thank you so much!

I have no idea if this is the right thing to do or not, and would really love to hear anyone's advice about pregnancy with POTS and how symptoms changed after pregnancy, were they worse? If anyone could provide any info, that would be greatly appreciated.

At at 45 we expect that your ovaries are older and your eggs are older and therefore they will have a harder chance of fertilizing and greater chance of having chromosomal problems called aneuploidy. This is why I suggest seeing a fertility specialst as soon as possible.

nonsustained ventricular tachycardia started in August (doctors say pregnancyand arrhythmia unrelated); no structural heart problems found in echos although an MRI has not been done to rule out AVRD; currently 12 weeks pregnant; taking Metoprolol 50 mg with symptoms only.
Hello. I was wondering if you have information on treatment options for pregnant patients with ventricular tachycardia.

I would like to get pregnant within the upcoming year and was wondering what the risks are to my heart rate, if I can have a vaginal delivery, and if I would have any limitations during the pregnancy. I have a 6 year old son, and during that pregnancy I had pre-ecclampsia and palpitations, but delievered vaginally with no problems.

I am on a waiting list for ablasion surgery because the episodes have not stopped since delivery - I am currently on 360 slow release dialthezem and 25 mg metoprolol 2X/day to control the episodes. Do you think it is possible that my heart condition caused the pre-term labour? Are there any other medications I could take instead of the metoprolol as I am having almost all the side effects listed for this drug and the waiting list of surgery is months long!

I am a 22 year old female who has a history of heart palpitations and am currently taking 25mg of metoprolol a day. I would like to get pregnant but after talking to my cardiologist who told me that my palpitations would be 3 times worse.....Now I am scared to death. Any recommendations?

This way the risk and benefits of each can be discussed with regards to the specifics of your case.
Metoprolol is a pregnancy class C drug, meaning there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women but animal studies have shown potential detriment.
Practically, beta-blockers may cause fetal bradycardia and possibly result in intrauterine growth retardation if used in the third trimester.

I'm now 37 weeks pregnant and am being kept on a low dose of it, although I will say they have had monthly measurements taken of the baby and fluid via ultrasound because taking the medication increases the baby's risk of intrauterine growth restriction. I've been on it the whole pregnancyand it never affected my baby's growth but that's everything I was told. And i also, have always had low BP....

I had SVT prior to pregnancy, under control with metoprolol. This past week, my 10th week of pregnancy, the SVT has been out of control. Should I be worried about my health, or the health of my unborn baby? Is there anything I can do? All my cardiologist said was that he didn't want to start me on any new meds in pregnancy, and he didn't want to increase my dose because he didn't want my BP to get too low.

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